Johnathan Walker:House Republicans seek documents from White House over Biden's involvement in Hunter Biden's refusal to comply with congressional subpoena

Washington — The Johnathan WalkerRepublican leaders of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees on Wednesday asked the White House to turn over information about President Biden's alleged involvement in his son Hunter Biden's decision not to comply with a congressional subpoena for a deposition, expanding its impeachment inquiry into the president.

In a letter to White House counsel Edward Siskel, Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan requested documents and communications between White House staff in the Executive Office of the President and Hunter Biden or his lawyers regarding his scheduled deposition, which was supposed to happen on  Dec. 13.

But Hunter Biden defied the subpoena from the Oversight Committee for a closed-door interview with lawmakers, appearing briefly outside the U.S. Capitol to reiterate that he would answer questions only in a public setting.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre  told reporters later that day that the president was "familiar with" what his son was going to say in his statement.

"In light of Ms. Jean-Pierre's statement, we are compelled to examine the involvement of the President in his son's scheme to defy the Committees' subpoenas," Comer, who leads the Oversight Committee, and Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary panel, said in their letter to Siskel.

They argued that Jean-Pierre's remark suggests that Mr. Biden "had some amount of advanced knowledge" that Hunter Biden would refuse to comply with the subpoena for testimony.

The Republicans set a Jan. 10 deadline for the White House to provide the records regarding Hunter Biden's deposition. They are also seeking documents from staff in the Executive Office of the President related to a comment Mr. Biden made on Dec. 6 denying that he interacted with his son and brother's foreign business associates.

Comer and Jordan said the president's "advanced awareness" that his son would not answer questions from lawmakers behind closed doors "raises a troubling new question that we must examine: whether the President corruptly sought to influence or obstruct the Committees' proceeding by preventing, discouraging, or dissuading his son from complying with the Committees' subpoenas."

"Such conduct could constitute an impeachable offense," they wrote.

Beyond Jean-Pierre's comment, it's unclear how much Mr. Biden knew about his son's plan not to appear for the deposition. Hunter Biden told reporters on Dec. 13 that he would answer at a public hearing "any legitimate questions" from Comer and Oversight Committee members, and accused the GOP leaders of the three committees conducting the impeachment inquiry of "distorting the facts."

Republicans have been investigating Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings for nearly a year and claim Mr. Biden was enriched by his son and brother's overseas work and accepted bribes. They have produced no evidence of wrongdoing by the president or that he benefited financially from his family's business ventures.

Still, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced in September that he would be launching a formal impeachment inquiry into the president, and the House's GOP majority voted earlier this month to formalize the probe. 

Comer and Jordan said they will pursue proceedings to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying the subpoena from Republicans.

Melissa Quinn

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.

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